Golf club with shiftable mercury mass

ABSTRACT

A golf club having a passage in the club shaft which terminates in the club head. Mercury in the passage is capable of moving freely under the influence of gravity and centrifugal force to increase the force of impact when the club head contacts the ball. A mercury deflector is provided in the club head end of the passage to laterally deflect the mercury as it moves toward the head.

United States Patent [191 Andrews [451 Oct. 22, 1974 GOLF CLUB WITH SHIFTABLE MERCURY MASS [75] Inventor: Harry E. Andrews, Bloomfield Hills,

Mich.

[73] Assignee: L. P. Andrews & C0., Incorporated,

Hunington Woods, Mich.

[221 Filed: Nov. 6, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 303,696

3,625,513 12/1971 Ballmer 273/80.8 X

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 448,561 6/1936 Great Britain..... 273/170 377,026 7/1932 Great Britain... 273/80.8

4,784 3/1908 Great Britain 273/170 256,126 8/1926 Great Britain 273/80.8

Primary Examiner-Anton O. Oechsle Assistant Examiner-Richard J. Apley Attorney, Agent, or Firm-William H. Griffith [5 7] ABSTRACT A golf club having a passage in the club shaft which terminates in the club head. Mercury in the passage is capable of moving freely under the influence of gravity and centrifugal force to increase the force of impact when the club head contacts the ball. A mercury deflector is provided in the club head end of the passage to laterally deflect the mercury as it moves toward the head.

1 Claim, 7 Drawing Figures 1 GOLF CLUB WITH SHIF'IABLE MERCURY MASS BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is known to use mercury in a golf club for the purpose of a shifting weight.

The effect of a shifting weight in a golf club can be materially enhanced if the distribution and direction of the mercury as it approaches the club head end of the passage is controlled. Such control can be obtained by the use of a mercury deflector of which three different embodiments are disclosed herein.

I have found first of all that by laterally deflecting the mercury, the force of impact when the club head meets the ball can be substantially increased. For this purpose I provide a mercury deflector having a configuration designed to deflect the mercury and its force toward the face of the club head.

I have also found that if the mercury is dispersed or broken up in its final movement toward the lower end of the passage, so that itdoes not'reach the lower end of the passage all at once in a single slug, the distribution of the force of impact can be spread over a substantially longer portion of the hitting arc during the downswing. While professional golfers have no difficulty achieving the maximum force of impact through a small arc at the bottom of their swing, less experienced golfers will find it to their advantage to if possible enlarge the arc at the bottom of their swing where the force is at a'maximum. I have designed a'special deflector to achieve this purpose.

Accordingly, it is among the objects of this .invention to provide a mercury deflector which will direct the mercury toward the face of the club head during the downswing, and also one which will disperse the mercury to lengthen that portion of the arc on the downswing during which the effect of the mercury is at a maximum.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds, especially when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. I is a perspective view of a golf club embodying my invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the club head and lower shaft portion illustrating one embodiment of my invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 in FIG. 1 showing a second embodiment of my invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a mercury deflector of the type shown in the embodiment of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a mercury deflector of the type shown in the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 7 is aperspective view of a third embodiment of a mercury deflector, the club shaft passage being shown in dotted lines.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing and especially to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a golf club generally designated 10 having an elongated tubular or hollow shaft 12 provided with a handle or grip portion 14 at one end and a head 16 at the other end. The club head 16 has a hollow stem 18 sleeved upon and permanently secured to the lower end of the shaft 12. The club head has a socket or fluid passage 19 which forms a continuation of the cylindrical passage 20 inthe'shaft.

The upper end of passage 20 may extend all the way up to the grip portionl4. The club head 16 is formed with the usual club face 22 provided with a hardened insert 24 secured thereto for contact with the ball.

Mercury 26 is disposed within the passage 20 in the shaft and is capable of freely moving within the passage from one end to the other. At the lower end of the passage within the club head, there is a mercury deflector 30 in the form of a pin which is provided to disperse or laterally deflect the mercury as it moves down the shaft. The pin 30 has a cylindrical base 32 of the same diameter as the passage 20 so as to completely fill the passage. The pin 30 has an elongated integral projection 34 which extends from the base toward the grip end of the shaft. This projection 34 is of a regular, substantially cone shape tapering fairly uniformly from the base to substantially a point at its end remote from the base. The projection is not a true cone because its longitudinal surface elements are slightly concave rather than straight. The projection 34 is preferably of circular cross section in all transverse planes from one end to the other. Its point lies substantially on the longitudinal center line of the passage 20 as do the centers of the circular sections in all transverse planes. The length of the projection may vary but may extend one or two inches or more. Obviously when the mercury in the shaft moves toward theclub end, it will be dispersed by the point of the pin and deflected laterally 360 or in alldirections into numerous small particles or globules and thuswill not hit the bottom of the passage in a single slug. This dispersion of the mercury will cause the impact of the particles to be time spread so that during the downswing, the mercury, instead of hitting the bottom of the passagein one instant of time as a single slug of mercury would, will contact the bottom of the passagearound the base 32 of pin 30 in a spray of particles over an arc of perhaps 15 or 20 at the bottom of the golfers swing. While an experienced golfer might be able to control his swing so as to contact the ball at the moment of maximum force, a less experienced golfer would be more likely to benefit if the increased force of impact achieved by the shifting weight of the mercury, is spread over an arc of substantial length.

FIGS. 3, 4 and 6 show the use of a different form of mercury deflector in which all of the mercury is deflected toward the club face, rather than being deflected laterally throughout 360 as is the case with the deflector of FIG. 5. The deflector of FIG. 6 is generally designated 40 and is of essentially cylindrical form having the continuous cylindrical wall 41. The wall 41 is of the same diameter as passage 20 so as to completely fill it when disposed at the lower end of the passage as in FIG. 3. The pin 40 as formed has a base portion 42 and an elongated projection portion 43 provided with an inclined surface 44. This inclined surface 44 is cut so that at the end of the projection closest to the grip of the shaft the projection and the surface 44 narrow to a point. The surface 44 slopes downward from its point toward the club face as seen clearly in FIGS. 3 and 6. It will be appreciated that all of the mercury during the downswing of the club will move toward the lower end of the passage and then-upon meeting the deflector surface 44 will be shifted laterally as a single slug in the direction of the club face 22 to substantially increase the force of impact. This design of deflector is intended primarily for the more experienced golfer who is able to control his swing so as to meet the ball at substantially the moment that the body of mercury reaches the bottom of the passage to add to the force of impact.

FIG. 7 shows a further modification of the deflector generally designated 50. The deflector 50 has a cylindrical base 52 of the same diameter as the base 32 of pin 31 and as the base 42 of pin 40 so as to fit tightly within the lower end of the passage 20. The passage is shown in dotted lines in FIG. 7. The projection 53 is very similar to the projection 43 in the FIG. 6 form of the invention. v j

The projection 53 has a cylindrical outer surface similar to that of the projection 43 in FIG. 6 although of slightly smaller diameter. Its circular base is tangent at one side to the base 52 but throughout the remainder of its circular extent it is spaced inwardly from the base as indicated at 55. The projection 53 has the inclined surface 54 similar to the inclined surface 44 of the deflector in FIG. 6. As seen, the inclined surface 54 at the end of the projection closest to the grip of the shaft narrows to a point, and slopes from the point toward the club face down to the base 52. During the downswing, while the major portion of the mercury will move along the inclined surface 54 for impact in a direction toward the club face, a minor portion of the mercury will fall upon the upper surface 55 of base 52 around the circular back wall of the projection. This is because the cylindrical back wall is spaced radially inwardly from the wall of the passage 20. Thus while a major part of the impact will be directed toward the club face, there will be a substantial lateral dispersion of the mercury in all other directions to time-spread the force of impact so that it is distributed over an arc of appreciable length at the bottom of the downswing. Accordingly, while the force of the impact is not instantaneous as it is with the deflector of FIG. 6,'still the effect of dispersion in all directions is not quite asgreat as that which is achieved in the FIG. 5 form. The FIG. 7 form may be considered as a compromise between the deflectors of FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, tending to increase the force of the impact on the club face, although not quite to the extent of the deflector in FIG. 6, and also to form a spray or breakup of the mercury into particles through lateral dispersion in all directions although not quite to the extent of the FIG. 5 form. Thus the increase in the force of impact will occur over a time spread at the bottom of the downswing, but throughout a somewhat smaller arc than in the form of FIG. 5. What I claim as my invention is: l. A golf club comprising an elongated shaft and a head at one end of said shaft, an elongated passage extending lengthwise within said shaft and terminating in said head, mercury disposed in said passage and capable of moving freely from one end to the other under the influence of gravity and centrifugal force, and a mercury deflector at the end of said passage in said head, said deflector being in the form of a pin of integral one-piece construction having a cylindrical base portion substantially filling said passage at the head end thereof and a projection portion emanating from said base portion for a length greater than said base portion, said projection portion being of substantially coneshape having a substantially uniform concave tapering from said base portion toward the end of said passage opposite said head to a substantially sharp point on the longitudinal center line of said passage so as to deflect and disperse the mercury laterally in all directions. 

1. A golf club comprising an elongated shaft and a head at one end of said shaft, an elongated passage extending lengthwise within said shaft and terminating in said head, mercury disposed in said passage and capable of moving freely from one end to the other under the influence of gravity and centrifugal force, and a mercury deflector at the end of said passage in said head, said deflector being in the form of a pin of integral one-piece construction having a cylindrical base portion substantially filling said passage at the head end thereof and a projection portion emanating from said base portion for a length greater than said base portion, said projection portion being of substantially cone-shape having a substantially uniform concave tapering from said base portion toward the end of said passage opposite said head to a substantially sharp point on the longitudinal center line of said passage so as to deflect and disperse the mercury laterally in all directions. 